NM man sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison for child pornography conviction

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A local man was sentenced Tuesday to 46 months in federal prison after being convicted of possessing child pornography.

This case was investigated by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Christopher Daves, 26, of Albuquerque, was also sentenced to five years of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence; he also will be required to register as a sex offender.

HSI special agents executed a search warrant at Daves' residence May 2, 2012, and seized his laptop computer. Daves was arrested July 11, 2012, as the result of an undercover operation initiated by the New Mexico State Police.

While special agents were executing the search warrant, Daves voluntarily agreed to be interviewed. He admitted that he used his laptop to download child pornography on multiple occasions. A forensic examination of Daves' laptop computer uncovered hundreds of images of child pornography.

This investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide HSI initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-347-2423 or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-843-5678.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.